Systematically turn your bass lines into MIDI without altering your guitar tone with this system that won’t change its original tone. Hexaphonic pickups (Roland FretTrax system) or piezo elements (Graph Tech Ghost, RMC multiac basses) divide the audio signal of strings onto their audio wires before sending them off to rack-mounted converters that generate MIDI files.
No instrument modifications are necessary and there’s minimal latency as well.
What is MIDI?
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is the language that connects electronic musical devices. Keyboards, synths and other musical hardware such as Pro Tools can all use this protocol to interact and control each other or be controlled by sequencers (such as Pro Tools). Because MIDI is digital in nature it does not record sounds as such but instead serves as instructions that can be recorded, edited and altered at will.
When you hit a key on a keyboard, MIDI sends down its cable and to a synth that then plays the note you struck: for example “note on” and velocity data about how hard you struck it (velocity). These signals can then be used to play virtual instruments in sequencers like Logic; they may even be controlled through mouse clicks in programs like Ableton Live. Nowadays MIDI can be heard everywhere you listen – be it an acoustic ballad by singer-songwriters or drum and bass bangers MIDI is everywhere – truly being an indispensable resource to modern producers!
General MIDI was released as the original MIDI standard in 1981 and later known as Extended General MIDI or XG by Roland and Yamaha later that decade to accommodate different hardware. It was designed to ensure compatibility across devices so they all communicated with one another seamlessly, and has since become the de facto standard for controlling digital music gear. Roland and Yamaha later created an enhanced system known as Extended General MIDI or XG which included extra sounds, controllers and more powerful editing features such as quantize function – these were created later than General General MIDI in 1980 by Roland and Yamaha as more advanced system in order to control digital music gear more efficiently.
MIDI offers many other advantages as a live performance tool, such as controlling lighting or video screens in live performance settings. This can be especially helpful for bands who need to make sure everything runs in sync – for instance ensuring their drummer starts at exactly the right time, background music plays at exactly the right point, lights and video screens change at appropriate points during songs etc.
MIDI can present its own challenges. For example, keyboards with aftertouch or velocity settings can sometimes send incorrect data to your software instrument. Furthermore, editing recorded performances requires editing software instruments in sequencer – something which can be challenging without altering original soundscape.
MIDI Converters
There are various approaches to turning a bass guitar into MIDI. Victor Wooten may use his FretTraX system or someone may use a rackmount unit equipped with special pickups that convert string vibrations to MIDI signals. There are also piezo and electrical capacitance systems that convert an acoustic signal into MIDI output, like Roland’s Guitar Synth GR-55 (with separate pickups attached to each string) or Fishman(r). Finally, some companies provide kits to retrofit your bass with a MIDI conversion pickup that fits under its bridge saddles. A 13-pin cable connects this bass to a rackmount unit that splits its signal down two lines – one connects to your synth and amp while the other leads back out. This system is the easiest, least expensive and most practical way to convert bass to MIDI; however, there may be an initial tracking delay on lower notes due to taking time for the unit to identify what frequencies are actually being struck.
Ableton Live’s Audio to MIDI feature offers you a versatile way of extracting melodies, chords and other musical elements from existing audio recordings and making them playable within a MIDI environment. For maximum accuracy in conversions it is best to work with high-quality uncompressed audio files, rather than lossy data formats like MP3. Lossy conversions may produce unpredictable and inaccurate MIDI clips.
Important to keep in mind is that converting audio files to MIDI doesn’t produce sound directly; rather, it merely transmits a representation of the MIDI information encoded within them. Therefore, no pitch bending, pitch modulation, or velocity changes that were performed by musicians performing live will come through as notes and velocity values only. You then must use digital instruments in your own creative way to recreate those acoustic tones using an instrumental digital instrument and recreate your own personal interpretation – making conversion much more enjoyable! Experiment with different sounds during this process!
MIDI Guitar
MIDI can be an intimidating technology for guitarists. The thought of their beloved guitar transforming into some form of arcane digital magic usually reserved for synth players or Allan Holdsworth is unthinkable for most guitarists; however, there are options that allow incorporating MIDI into your rig without losing its analogue tone.
One option available to guitarists is a guitar-to-MIDI converter. These devices connect directly to your guitar’s output or body/bridge/neck (depending on which kind of converter you get) and convert an analog audio signal into MIDI data, enabling you to control external devices like synthesizers and drum machines using only their sound and character of their instrument.
Guitar-to-MIDI converters typically feature large memory banks for quickly recalling presets with one MIDI message, and have assignable MIDI controls so you can assign knobs, switches and settings directly using your controller MIDI controller – giving you full control of all features at once!
Jamstik Studio MIDI can even convert string bends to pitch bend MIDI messages for use by software synths, which often differ in their tolerance for pitch bend. You can even adjust how much pitch bend is sent out, which may prove beneficial when working with plugins or software synths that require specific amounts.
Another method for incorporating MIDI into your guitar playing experience is with a MIDI pedalboard. While pedalboards provide great effects to enhance your sound, controlling them with feet can sometimes be cumbersome and time consuming – think trying to adjust mix, gain, decay and other parameters of multiple pedals in quick succession while keeping tempo! A MIDI pedalboard would make this much simpler.
Although it is technically possible to connect almost any effect to MIDI, certain effects work better than others. A good general guideline would be to use effects units that you already possess experience with while choosing a converter with an intuitive GUI, in order to maximize results while keeping focus on playing music! This approach will guarantee the highest-quality results while leaving more time for practicing music itself!
MIDI Bass
Before the advent of giant racks of blinking lights and massive guitar rigs like those Victor Wooten would employ, bassists would send signals from their bass (usually equipped with piezoelectric bridge saddle) to an external unit that sent out MIDI messages that controlled various effects; they could then use foot controllers or keyboards to toggle sounds until they found something that fit just perfectly.
Numerous companies have developed systems that convert bass to MIDI, enabling you to control a computer with as much ease as if you were playing keyboard. You can even have your MIDI bass line automatically written by programs like EZbass with their intuitive user interface for chords and melodies with just finger and thumb gestures.
To achieve accurate MIDI conversion, it’s important that your playing is clean and precise. Accidental notes, open strings resonating erratically or the sound of pick striking strings may all result in unwanted notes in MIDI output; for optimal MIDI results you need an excellent grip on your instrument.
One approach is to utilize a high-quality pickup system that converts magnetic signals from strings into high-quality digital signals that can then be transformed back into string vibrations without losing tone and dynamics associated with electric bass playing. Such systems come equipped with very high impedance input circuits that won’t interfere with normal bass sounds or add noise when recording sessions occur.
Another option for creating a MIDI Bass guitar setup is purchasing a dedicated unit such as Yamaha Wal/MB4. This special bass features both an onboard MIDI interface and separate pedalboard that contains amplifier and bass sound files, such as full range acoustic bass sounds. Although not ideal, this solution offers better reliability than standalone conversion units while still giving users access to radical sound changes at just the push of a button.